Can-filling machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

C. S. BUGKLIN.

GAN FILLING MACHINE.

Patented sept.28,-1897.

ATTDFINEY.

TME Noam PETERS o0., PNOTCLLITND.. wAsHmmoN, D. c.

2 Sheets-,Sheet 2.'

(No Model.)

C. S. BUGKLIN. GAN FILLING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 28, 1897..

y INVENTDR WITNEESEEI ATTORNEY.

`1o and fruits into cans.

UNITED STATES `.PATENT Prion.

CAN-FILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,788, datedSeptember 28, 1897.

Application filed May 20,1896.- Serial No. 592,286. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. BUCKLIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Can- Filling Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to an automaticallyacting machine for fillingcertain vegetables Peas, beans, whortleberries, and perhaps othersimilar articles are handled while theyare damp and moist, whichcondition gives rise to some difficulties in employing machines.

One object of the/invention is to provide mechanism to measure thevegetables or berries, so as to insure that each can filled shall havethe same uniformquantity and to provide for certainly removing all t-hevegetables I zo or berries from the measuring-receptacles at eachmeasurement.

Another object is to provide for delivering the contents of themeasuring-receptacles gradually into the conduit leading to the can; 2 5and a further object is to provide means for readily varying thequantity that may be 4measured in a receptacle of given size, in orderthat a greater or less quantity may be measured, as desired.

The drawings herewith illustrate myinven tion.

Figure lis a side elevation of .the machine. Fig. 2 is a front endelevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical section view of theconduit, showing adjoiningparts. Fig. 4isavertical cross-section viewofthe machine shown in Fig. l, taken on a line to the left of thehopper. Fig. 5 shows one of thev stationary cams and illustrates itsaction on the ends of 4o the cross-bars which connect with thefollower-bottoms of the measuring receptacles- Figs. 6 and 7 show,respectively, a plan and an edge view of the adjustable base-plate.Figs. S and 9 show, respectively, a plan and an edge View of thepusher-block. Fig. lO is an inverted perspective sectional view of thecover provided with the separating-pin s. Fig. l1 shows two views of aportion of the conduit and the serrated disk to jar or shake the 5oconduit. Fig. l2 shows two views of the reciprocating slide. Fig. 13 isa vertical secparts.V Fig. 14 4is a view of the adjustingplate.

The letter A designates the side frame or support of the machine; B, ahorizontal table whereon the cans slide after being filled; C, astationary shaft held yimmovable by a setscrew a. Two hubs or sleeves bo (see Fig. 13) are loose on this fixed shaft, and one of them carries asprocket-wheel cl.

E designates a lower shaft carrying a small sprocket-wheel f, and achainf/ passes over the said two sprocket-wheels elf. A largersprocket-wheel f2 is also on the lower shaft E. A drive-shaft G carriesa sprocket-wheel g, and a chain g connects the two sprockets f2 g. Thedrive-shaft has pulleys g2.

I will describe this machine as for peas.

At the top (shown in Fig. l at the righthand side) is a hopper I-I tocontain the hulled peas that are to be filled into cans. This hopper hasno fixed bottom, but has a curved opening, and the rim c of a wheelserves as a bottom. The wheel is mounted on the two hubs or sleeves b(iQ-which revolve on the stationary shaft C, and this wheel has at eachside four arms t', each of which has a longitudinal slot t", and saidarms at their outer extremities carry the circular rim c. This rim incross-section is seen in Fig. 3, and, as

already stated, constitutes or'serves'as a bot-v tom for the said hopperH, although it is constantly moving. Adjoining each arm i of the wheelthe rim carries a measuring-receptacle I, the four receptacles beinguniform in size and opening through the rim c and being flush with theexterior surface thereof. Each measming-receptacle I is stationary onthe wheel, but has a follower or plunger lc for a bottom. This followerhas a stem 7c', to which a crossrod k2 is attached, the said cross-rodextending parallel with the stationary shaft C and its ends projectingthrough the longitudinal slot t" in the wheel-arm. This cross-rodcarries two rollers Z. A cam m (shown in detail in Figs. 3, 5, and I3)is made stationary, one cam on each end of the stationary shaft O, andhas position to act on the rollers l of the cross-rod k2 when the wheelrevolves in the direction indicated by the dart, as hereinafterdescribed.

tional view through the wheel and connected IOC It will be understoodthat in operation when a measu rin g-receptacle I on the wheel arrivesat the lowermost point c of the hopper said receptacle will at oncebegin to fill with peas from the hopper and will continue to fill as itsweeps along the lower part of the hopper. )Vhen the receptacle arrivesat the terminal point of the hopper-bottom, it will be full of peas, andwhile the open top of the measuring-receptacle is still exposed in thehopper it will pass under the slide-bar n2, which is located at thispoint. Provision is made by this slide-bar to remove any excess of peasand insure that the receptacle shall be merely level full.

A fixed cross-plate n (see Fig. l2) has a slot a and the slidebar a2 hasa bolt a3, which passes through said slot, and a rod n4 is attached tothe bolt and projects out at one side of the machine. On the drive-shaftG is a cam-slotted disk O, (see Figs. l and 2,) and a lever o isinclined and has at one end a roller which traverses said cam-slot asthe driveshaft revolves. The other end of this lever is attached to therod n4. By this construction when the cam-slotted disk revolves areciprocating motion is imparted to the slide-barn2. Now as the open endof the measuring-receptacle I passes under this slide-bar thereciprocation of the latter acts to remove any excess of peasand retainssuch excess within the hopper. The slight reciprocating motion of theslide-bar serves to gently shake and separate the moist top layer ofpeas and remove an y excess of peas from the top. Thus the removal oftoo great a quantity of peas by reason of the latter sticking togetheris prevented.

At the left of the machine in Fig. l is a cover having a top p (see alsoFig. l0) and two side flan ges p', which take on the wheelrim c. Thiscover is provided with a number of pins p2, projecting from its top, andthe lower ends of the pins are close to but not in contact with thewheel-rim. After the receptacle I passes the reciprocating scraper-barn2 the rollers l on the cross rod 7a2 begin to mount the stationary camm, (see Fig. 5,) and thereby the follower or bottom 7i; of thereceptacle begins to move outward and thereupon the peas in thereceptacle begin to be discharged onto the declining side of thewheelrim c, where the pins p2 are located. As these discharging peaspass down the wheel-rim they will come into contact with the said pinsp2, and thereby the moist peas, which otherwise would he in bunches,will be'separated and loosened from each other and will drop into theconduit Q, whose end tapers, as at q. The pins prevent the peas fromdropping in a clod. The follower or bottom 7tof the receptacle graduallymoves outward until fully out, which it will be when the rollers Z areat the point m of the cam. The tapered end q of the conduit has a collarq', (see Fig. 11,) and a revoluble serrated or toothed disk q2 isprovided to act on this collar and tap or jar the said conduit in orderto dislodge any moist peas that may cling to said conduit and allow themto drop down. This serrated disk is mounted on a shaft o", carrying asprocketwheel o", and a cha-in r2 connects this sprocket with a sprocketr3 on the drive-shaft G. By thusgradually discharging the peas from thereceptacle I and separating and loosening the moist peas there is noliability of the peas choking the conduit.

An adjusting device comprising a plate S is centered on both of the hubsb of the wheel and having four irregular faces s, cach provided with agraduated stepped rim to act 011 the ends of the cross-rod 7a2, whichproject-s through the slots fz. This plate has two segment-shaped slotss2 concentric with the said hub and the shaft C, and a set-screw 't ispassed through each slot into the wheel-arm It, so thatl the plate Swill turn with the wheel and may have its position changed, as desired.By means of this adjusting device the stroke of the follower k whenmoving toward the shaft C may be regulated to vary the capacity of thereceptacle I, so that a greater or less quantity of peas may be measuredin the same receptacle and thus meet the requirements incident to peasof different lots which are in `different conditions.

The cans to be filled are placed one upon the other in a verticalguideway, (see Figs. l and 6,) formed by four rods u, which rise from abase-plate U. Between these rods in the base-plate is an4 opening a',through which the cans pass down to the horizontal table l5. Thisbaseplate U is provided with a lateral supporti n gsplate Q3, whichcarries an open guide-funnel q, into which the lower extremity q of theconduit fits. The can to be filled rests on the table B immediatelyunder this guide-cup and receives the peas therefrom. The frame of themachine has at each side a bracket o, and said base-plate is mountedthereon and is ver'tically adjustable, so that its position relative tothe table I3 may he varied to suit cans of different height. The plate Uhas at each end a screw if', which enters the bracket e and contines theplate, and two adjusting-screws u2 are at each end and simply impingeagainst the top of the brackets. By unscrewing the confining-screw -r'the two set-screws U2 may be moved to slightly.

raise or lower the base-plate, as desired.

As a can L is filled it is moved from under the end of the guide-funnelQ4 by suitable mechanism, consisting in the presentinstan ce of apusher-block y on the table. A lever )7V has its lower end pivoted at zuto the frame and is connected by means of a rod to the said pusher-blocky. This pusher-block has a scmicircular head 'y' to partly surround thecan that is to be pushed. The lever )V carries at its center a rollerw', and a cam 102 is on the lower shaft E and is arranged to strike thesaid roller w and throw the lever in one direction to cause thepusher-block y to place a can in position under the guide-funnel Q". Aspiral spring serves to throw the lever ICO IIO

back again and thus restore the pusher-block to the proper position inreadiness for moving another can. The pusher-block hasY a rearvbody party2, on which the lowermost can in the vertical stack of cans is seated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a machine for fillingcans, the com bination of a bottomless hopper; a wheel having a rimserving as abottom for the hopper; measuring-receptacles opening throughthe lwheel-rim and each provided with a followerbottom; and a slide-bar,n2, at the terminal point where the hopper and wheel-rim ad j oin andmovable crosswise of the wheel-rim to remove any excess of material andretain such excess within the hopper.

2. The combination of a hopper; a wheel having measuring-receptacleswith followerbottoms and a cross-rod connected with said follower; anadjusting-plate provided with faces having a graduated stepped rim toengage the said cross-rods and thereby set the said.follower-bottoms sothat the receptacles may have a greater or less capacity; and a cam tomove said bottoms out gradually.

The combination of a hopper; a wheel havin ga plurality of arms eachprovided with a slot and carrying a rim which serves as a bottom forsaid hopper; a number of measurin g-receptacles opening through said rimand each provided with a follower-bottom having an attached cross-rodwhose ends project through the said slots in the wheel-arms and anadjusting-plate provided with irregular faces equal in number to saidmeasuringreceptacles-said faces having graduated stepped rims, and eachface in position to engage the projecting end of a different cross-rodto limit the retraction of said follower-bottoms so that the receptaclemay have a greater or less capacity.

4. In a machine for filling cans7 the combii nation of a hopper; astationary shaft; a wheel revolving on said shaft and having a pluralityof arms each provided with a slot and carrying a rim which serves as abottom for said hopper a number of measuring-receptacles opening throughsaid rim and each provided with a bottom follower having an attachedcross-rod whose ends project through the slots in the wheel-arms; andtwo cams one on each end of the stationary shaft and acting on the saidprojecting ends of the crossrods, as set forth.

5. In a machine for filling cans, the combination of a bottomlesshopper; a wheel whose rim serves as a bottom for the hopper and providedwith measuring-receptacles opening through the rim; adrive-shaft andconnections between the same and the wheel to re volve the latter; aslide-bar, n2, at the terminal point where the hopper and wheel-rimadjoin and movable crosswise of the wheel-rim to remove any excess ofmaterial and retain such excess within the hopper; a cam on thedriveshaft; and a Vlever connecting between the cam and said slide-barto impart motion to the latter. Y

' 6. The combination of a hopper; a conduit leading to the can to befilled; a wheel provided with measuring-receptacles which are filled asthey pass the hopper and discharge their contents into the said conduit;a collar on the exterior side of the conduit; and a serrated or tootheddisk which revolves and taps against thecollar and vibrates the conduit.

'7. The combination of a frame carrying at one side a hopper; a conduitat the opposite side leading to the can to be filled; a wheel throughthe whole lengt-h of the receptacle;

means to move said bottoms out gradually and discharge the contents ontothe declining side of the wheel-rim leading to the conduit; and a cover7p, for the wheel-rim between the hopper and conduit and provided withpins, p2, which project toward the wheelrim to separate and loosen thematerial that is being measured.

8. In a can-lling'machine, the combination of a bottomless hopper; aconduit whose lower part is vertical and delivers to the can to befilled, and whose upper part is bottomless and curves from the saidvertical part toward the hopper; a wheel between the hopper and conduitand revoluble in a direction toward the latter, said wheel having a rimwhich serves as a bottom for the hopper and also as a bottom for thecurved partof the conduit and provided with measuring-receptaclesopening through the rim; a followerbottom in each receptacle and movablethrough the whole of its length; and means to move said bottoms outgradually and discharge the contents onto the declining side of thewheel-rim, as' set forth. j

In testimony whereof I afx'my signature in the presence of twowitnesses. 1

CHARLES S. BUCKLIN.

Witnesses:

CHAs. B. MANN, Jr., CLAUDE P. ELDERKIN.

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